


To Defend a Home

by orphan_account



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: AU probably, Child Soldiers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 21:45:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5801413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tatsuya is only a child, but he's the last stance that You Show Duel School can make.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Defend a Home

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: YouShow Duel School is currently serving as a refugee/resistance hold for children to counter the recent militarization and conscription policies of LDS under Himika

It’s strange, Tatsuya thinks, that the sky is gentle and cloudless on the day that Himika Akaba announces the conscription of all those under the age of 16 to fight in the war against Academia. 

“We must fight this enemy with everything we have. They have already once destroyed a world! We must not let them do so again. Let your children fight for our cause with pride and honor so that they may protect our world!”

It’s that day that Ayu’s family leaves Maiami City to live in the rural town of her mother’s childhood.

It’s that day that Futoshi is taken to LDS when he’s spotted wandering the city and admiring his deck.

It’s that day that the Principal’s tears for Yuzu stop but the dark rings under his eyes begin to deepen.

Ads showcasing the Lancers play constantly on every channel, touting their lofty mission. The strength of Pendulum Summoning screams from every corner, and Tatsuya can barely remember the last time he woke without the fear that an LDS representative would come to take him away. Masumi and Yaiba, cold and glaring and with their own dark circles under their eyes, are plastered around Maiami as the ideal soldiers to protect their home.

Inside of You Show, Tatsuya practices, practices, practices. It’s the only way to hold back LDS from taking You Show away from him and the Principal. They come knocking every other day and demand that the Principal comply with Himika Akaba’s orders. And then, Tatsuya duels. He wins every time because he must, but those with other summoning methods are so strong and Tatsuya is too young and too weak. He cannot afford to lose. So he doesn’t. (Those who come all have less teeth than Reira did in the Junior Championship. He has to get stronger, be better, because Reira is out fighting and Tatsuya is in his own battle. Tatsuya won’t lose until he can have another duel like that one.)

Without Yuya, Yuzu, and Sora, they’re so much weaker, but they have to continue to fight because they are the last stance against Himika Akaba. There are other children at You Show now, but the day that one of them was sold out by another’s parents cemented that none of them could be Tatsuya’s friends, his family. Not the way You Show had been before.

The Principal and Yoko-san whisper and wonder whether this path is any better than what they say the Academia is. Child soldiers, every conscript, every volunteer, ruthlessly put through paces. Those who fail are harshly punished, it’s said. Even those who succeed are given only scraps of recognition. (And then they ask, what success is to be had? No enemy has yet appeared and the children just become more dogged and ragged, eyes glazed and empty, but trained to attack ruthlessly and outnumber their opponents.)

Every day, Tatsuya waits for Yuya-nii-chan and Yuzu-nee-chan to come home, to protect them again, so that Tatsuya can stop fighting. He is so, so tired.

**Author's Note:**

> Ehhhh maybe I'll come back to this and fix it up/expand eventually? Feedback is loved.


End file.
